Too Early Wake-Up Time

Try putting him to bed a little later not earlier. It will be an adjustment if he is tired, cranky and ready for bed, but it will get better. Keep him awake if you have to by playing with him or doing something else he finds fun. Just don't let him go to sleep. After a few days or so he'll get use to the change. I personally think his bedtime is way too early. Try 8ish and see how that goes. When my son was that age he too went through a similar thing. I had to cahnge his bedtime from 7:30 to 8:30-9 just to get him to sleep until 7am. Before I changed it he too was up around 5. But once we got use to the change we all slept more comfortably. It wasn't that difficult either. Just a few days. Good Luck!

I am also a mother of twin boys (9 months) and had the same problem for 2-3 months. My doctor told me to try to keep him up later. He wanted to go to bed by 6:00 every night but then wake up at 4:30 - 5:00 am. His brother stays up until 8:30-9:00 pm and sleeps until 7:00ish. I was afraid to keep him up later because 1) he cries and cries because he is tired and wants to go to bed so early and 2) I was afraid that if he was over-tired he wouldn't sleep at night. The Dr. said that probably will happen but I need to suck up some difficult nights in order to move his sleep schedule up. Believe it or not he amazingly decided to start staying up later on his own and he now sleeps until 7-8 am (later than his brother!!!). Can you try keeping him up a little later and see if that works?? It may be difficult and he may not sleep so well through the night but it may end up helping him sleep later. I was so torn too because everyone and every book said to put them down earlier, but that didn't work for us. Every baby is different, give it a try.

J.

there is a lot of light now in the am...black out curtains or heavy towels over the windows....he's waking up and seeing all the signs that it's time to play...

My daughter just goes through phases and does this. One or two times for a month or so! I have no idea what causes it. Like you, I've tried changing nap times, going to bed earlier, going to bed later, the works. Nothing I do seems to have an impact. What I do try to do is not go in and get her so it becomes a habit. I wait for as long as possible, unless she starts crying to get up. Every time she's just gotten over it eventually. All last week she was waking up at 5:00am, and now she's back to 7:30am. Go figure! Good luck!!

i'd stick with your original bedtime and not go to him in the morning. do you have the boys in the same room? if not, i'd put a sound machine in the room where your son sleeps longer. put a few soft toys in the crib of the one who isn't sleeping, so he can amuse himself when he wakes. my 8mo sometimes wakes at 5:30 and i will not go to her until 6. when she does wake early like this, i move the morning nap to 8:30 so as not to upset the day too much.

Hi A.,
Welcome to the club! My son is 8 years old and still has his 5 and 5:30 AMs, and until my last death threat was waking me up to share sunrise with him. He finally (I hope) seems to have it clear that he shouldn't wake Mommy until 6:15, which is when I seem to wake up anyway. When he was your twin's age he was going down at about 6:00-6:30, and neither earlier nor later bedtimes seemed to impact on his wake up. It seems mostly related to light levels in the room, though he wakes up in the dark in the winter. My experience is that he will do what his little internal clock dictates despite anything you try, and all you can do is let him wake his brother and hope that it at least keeps them in sync. You could try what Mary K suggested--based on my experience that is the suggestion with the most potential. If he holds the bottle himself, you could deliver a bottle and leave him with some toys AND PRAY A LOT!
Everyone swears that when he hits high school he will be impossible to wake up in the morning. I'm betting they are wrong.

Could he be hungrier than his twin? My kids did this, and what they needed was a bottle, then they'd happily go back to sleep for a few hours (ie till their usual, more manageable, wake-up time).

What do you do for his bedtime routine? Could you repeat it at 5 am? I'm not suggesting you give him another bath, but if you sing, or pray, or cuddle, or rock him, or put his music or lightshow on, do the same. He may get the message. You may need to have the twins sleep in separate rooms if he goes to bed with music and if this would wake his brother up. Maker sure his room stays dark, too. It can be pretty light at 5 am, which to him means wake up and play.

Good luck!
A.

Hi A.,
I also have twin boys, mine are 9 months old. I would think if you want your son to sleep an hour later in the morning to try and keep him up an hour later at night, not put him down an hour earlier. If you put him down an hour earlier at night, he will probobly wake up even earlier than he is now in the morning. If he sleeps 10 hours at night for example, try putting him to bed 10 hours prior to the time you would like him to wake up. I understand the importance of trying to keep both of your boys on the same schedule. Hope this helps!

Wow - a 630pm bedtime? I'm jealous.... my five month old daughter refuses to go to sleep before 10pm - most of the time she's up till closer to 11. She does, however, sleep until about 630am. Well, I can't say that for sure - I wake up at 630 and she is already up and playing in the crib. Every once in a while though, she does throw me for a loop by waking up around 430 or 5 and causing a ruckus. Personally, I feed her her breakfast if I put the pacifier in her mouth and massage her a little bit but she still won't go back to sleep (that works sometimes). It doesnt seem unusual that your sons might be hungry on different schedules.... My daughter on one day might be hungrier than on another day... Just like her mom :) I guess even by 5 months they have their own personalities!

Mom,
as soon as you hear him peep, jump up and go get him,
pop in his pacifier
and bring him in the bed with you,
don't talk. just cuddle him close and fall back to sleep together.

he should sleep till atleast 630.

M

Hi. My son goes to bed around 9:30 but it would be hard to change your son this much at once. Try 15 minutes later.. for about 3 days.. and then 15 minutes later ... and so on.. until you get him to stay up about an hour or hour and half later.. They really should be going to bed a little later than what you are doing at this point. Mine goes to bed 9:30 and sleeps until 8! also takes a short nap in the a.m. around 10 to 11 and then 2 to 4 or 5! this works pretty good. I would also try to put the one that wakes up early in another room until you can get his schedule adjusted better. good luck... from A. h.

Hi A., I read your post and understand your concern. As mom's we all have a hard time with early wake up and losing sleep. My 5 are all grown and I always went with what they needed. You can try what you want but I think baby is in charge at this time. Lucky you are at home and not needing to go to work. I think too much manipulation will only be frustrating to you and the boys. One of my sons would sometimes wake at 4 am and not want to go back to sleep. I did not love it but I survived. I wish you he best and I know you don't have an easy job with twins. Try to go with the flow. Grandma Mary

Hi A.

I have had twin boys who were premature so you could undertsnad my fluster but it will of course take a little time to get the adjustments in place. What I did was to use a half hour difference in the routine - started one at 6:00am and the other at 6:30am with 4-hour routines (which you can adjust as you see fit). This allows for 6:00 am - 10:00 - 2:00 - 6:00 etc. You may have to tolerate a little fussing in the beginning but do not worry you will recognise if they are having real problems and not just crying out for your attention. They are old enough I think to be given water with a tip of sugar in it at the last feeding to help thme sleep through at night and if they do awake in between just give them water they will soon decide it is worth the while to wake up for water instead of their normal feed. Good luck and God bless you and yours.
F. G

A.,

First reaction is: ummm, you prefer their wake-up time to be what? :)

The only idea I have is to let the one who wakes get up. He might be hungry (not sure if you're on solids yet), give him some breakfast. I can't believe the other one doesn't wake with all the crying! I would say, you have two individual boys, and this is the lot they've given you! You're not going to change anything overnight. Reading the other replies, I agree with pushing his bedtime later.

Curious - are they identical or fraternal twins? I'd like to know if that makes a difference, too.

2 naps, huh? You are lucky. Mine believes naps are optional.

Luckily, he's opting right now, and so is his Dad.

M.

wow! that is tough, but I think your bedtime is perfect. I think the bedtime being earlier pertains to those folks that put there baby asleep past 7:30 which is considered a little late according to books. But I think it may just be a phase- could be teething, growth spurt..so many things. I know it is so frustrating especially when you have two but I would give him a few minutes first see it he falls back even before you offer his bink. Try and rub his back in circles or pick him up calm him and then place him right back down. Its important that when they do wake early morning they know also how to put themselves back to sleep.
I would also do your best to keep them on the same routine- it will pay off down the road. Remember just when you think you figured it all out something changes. But usually there is a reason...growth spurt, teeth, dependency on you to fall asleep. Also if you want only two naps then stick to it he will figure it out. You have to teach him and help him to learn to sleep as best you can.
I am no expert but I too read a lot of books and have a sister who she herself is a baby whispher!
Veroncia

If he's waking up too early, I would put him to bed an hour later.

It's counterintuitive but put them to bed earlier. I have the same struggle with my son who is now 18 months. He is a very early riser. We solved the problem from 8-17 months by putting him to bed between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. He would sleep through the night until 6am or later. When we put him to bed after 6:30, he was up even earlier. 8pm bedtime? He would be up by 4:30. UGH!

Now that he's 18 months, he does better with a 7pm bedtime. He is almost always up between 5:45 and 6:30 a.m. Our 4 month old also goes to bed very early and does very well (she's still up 2 times a night but I expect that). I used "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" advice, after reading 4 other books with no sleeping success (our son was a TERRIBLE sleeper until we instituted the very early bedtime).